WADA lifts suspension of Los Angeles lab

(Reuters) - The World Anti-Doping Agency said on Friday it has lifted a three-month partial suspension of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Olympic Analytical Laboratory.

A woman walks into the head office of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in Montreal, Quebec, Canada November 9, 2015. REUTERS/Christinne Muschi/File Photo

The laboratory, which had continued to carry out its regular anti-doping activities, is no longer required to obtain a second opinion prior to reporting adverse analytical findings for four specific prohibited substances, WADA said in a statement.

UCLA’s lab was suspended in June from analysing glucocorticoids prednisolone and prednisone and the anabolic steroids boldenone and boldione after WADA’s quality assessment procedures ”identified non-conformities with best practice,” the anti-doping agency said at the time.

“We commend the UCLA Laboratory for their quick and effective response in addressing the issue that led to the partial suspension,” WADA Director General Olivier Niggli said. “Athletes can be confident that the Laboratory is operating at the high standards required by WADA and the global anti-doping program.”

WADA from time to time suspends accredited laboratories that do not meet established standards.

The French anti-doping laboratory of Chatenay-Malabry, where disgraced American cyclist Lance Armstrong’s samples had been tested, last month was provisionally suspended by WADA.

The suspension was imposed ”due to analytical issues self-reported to WADA by the laboratory,” the agency said in a statement, without elaborating.

Reporting by Gene Cherry in Salvo, North Carolina; Editing by Rex Gowar